Life is simply a stewardship, not an ownership; a trust, not a gift. With a gift you may do as you please, but with a trust, you must give an account. (Eph. 2: 10) This is the beginning of the holiday season when we begin spending money on gifts and essentials that make this time of year delightful and challenging. Thanksgiving, after-all, is next week!
John McArthur has a tape called “Mastery of Materialism”. He said, “16 out of 38 of Christs parables deal with money. More is said in the New Testament about money than Heaven and Hell! Five times more is said about money than prayer. There are 500 plus verses on prayer and faith, but there are 2,000 verses dealing with money and possessions.” Obviously, the point is the Bible has much to say about money management!
There are four basic biblical principles of money management in Matthew 25: 14-30. They summarize much of what the Bible has to say regarding money and stewardship. The first is simple…God owns it all! Hence, He has the right to whatever He wants, whenever He wants it. It’s all His and the Owner has rights and I, a steward, have only responsibility.
A good example of this is when my daughter started driving my car. I’m the owner; my daughter has only privilege, while I maintain all respnsibility. I can take it back for any reason, at any time. In the same way, every single possession that I have comes from His hand. I possess much, but own nothing.
Stewardship is the God-given resource for the accomplishment of God-given goals. It is an active definition, not theoretical. It acknowledges God’s ownership over my possessions and His direction of my use of these resources. Not only is my “giving” decision a spiritual one, but “spending” decisions are also. There is nothing more spiritual about giving than buying a car, taking a vacation, buying food, paying off a debt, paying taxes, paying for college…These are all uses of His resources.
The Bible reveals many specific guidelines, as to how the Owner wants His property used. You can’t fake stewardship! Our checkbooks reveal all that we really believe about guardianship. A life story could be written from a checkbook. It reflects: goals, priorities, convictions, relationships, use of time… A person can fake prayer, Bible study, evangelism…but, the checkbook reveals all! Could that be why so many are secretive about personal finances?
The second money management tenet is that God uses money as a tool to teach us, as a test of our trustworthiness andas a testimony to distinguish us from the world. The third rule is not the amount we have but how we handle what God has entrusted to us and lastly, the fourth, is that stewardship requires faith and volitional action.
My husband has always said, “You can’t take it with you, but you can send it ahead”. “Lay not up…treasures on earth, but lay up for yourselves in heaven…for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matt. 6: 19-21) His point…invest in eternity! (Lu. 16: 1-9)
There are five weeks before Christmas.
Our stewardship of His resources will come to light…
How are we living life?
~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America. Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California. My passion is mentoring and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights.
